We are in conversation with Dr Dee Blackie and Talia Jade Magnes to discuss the teenage pregnancy crisis in South Africa. Earlier this year the Gauteng Education Department announced that between April 2020 and March 2021 23 226 teenage pregnancies were recorded by the Gauteng Health Department – 943 of the girls were between the age of 10 and 14. How are we failing our children so badly? We talk about the role of all stakeholders – parents, educators and society, we talk child abandonment, blessers, exposure to illicit material on social media and touch on what can be done differently. This is a conversation that needs so much more than 25 minutes.